Hi Glen, Just letting you know that John Horner isnt real good. Only 40Per Cent of his heart is working. Peter Brook rang and told me, so i rang John up and he was not well at all, could hardly breath. Thought i would let the Editor know about Johns Health. Take care Regards Pom

Thank you Glen for your wonderful description of the long weekend we all had. Des and I always enjoy meeting up with everyone, reminiscing about past events, boasting about grandchildren, (and now great grandchildren), ((only 1 so far for us)). We left Coffs on the Monday morning and headed for Queensland to see our 2 sons and their families, plus friends we had met in Malaysia 50 years ago when Des was with a British unit there, plus ex-neighbours who we still keep in contact with. It was a nasty shock to come home to our freezing Melbourne. Thank you to everyone for yet another cherished memory.
Marg Ralph

Reunion 2018.

Patsy and I left home and headed towards Coffs Harbour rather dubiously on the Thursday afternoon, and the reason I say dubiously, was that we both had just recently beaten a rather nasty bout of cold, runny nose etc. that threatened our actual attendance.  Anyway, we recovered and set out in magnificent weather down towards Coffs Harbour in our 1964 Rover car (purchased from Bendigo a number of years earlier following a flying preview by Des and Marg Ralph to ascertain its condition prior to the sale)

We stayed overnight in Ballina (people to see, things to do,) then carried on to Coffs arriving around midday Friday. Met John Horner, Bob and Adrianna Wilson at the Park Ridge shopping complex, had a sanga and a coffee, then headed off to our accommodation at “Sandcastles” almost right opposite the club, where we immediately ran into “the mob from Vic.” Rob Hanisch, Brian and Yvonne Englund and the Hoares’ John and Shirley.. Wally and Sandra Edwards also stayed at the same accommodation but had to go off to pick up that bubbly member of our extended family, Sandra’s Mum, Lorna..

A rather noisy and disruptive but happy gathering ensued, one that slowly moved up the courtyard following the sun and at the same time slowly encroaching onto other guests territory.

By 1630 the sun had moved us on so we donned some more respectable clothes and went “over the road” to the Official ‘Meet and Greet”.

I must say I was a tad disappointed at the attendance numbers this year as a number had pulled out at the last minute so to speak because of varying reasons, medical emergencies, transportation malfunctions and the like of such, but still.

The Park Beach Bowls club once again opened its doors and welcomed our group back in an admirable fashion and before long quite a number of attendees were talking, drinking mingling, and laughing as though the past 52years had hardly passed. I must admit that I did seem to overhear a number of conversations revolving around different medical procedures, and organ replacements and the likes of such.

An amount of finger food was supplied and consumed, many conversations and reminiscence were had and generally a convivial and successful meet and greet was held.

Saturday Morning Patsy and I met Joy Purdie and her daughter and son in law Mary and Ron, for breakfast at the streetside café directly over the road from the club. Similar get togethers were more than likely reflected amongst other attendees. We then spent the rest of the morning touring around the Sawtell area, a cup of coffee at the Surf Club, and generally simply relaxing. The weathe for the whole weekend was extremely conducive to relaxation and enjoyment.

Saturday night saw the regular dinner event, and this was attended by a total of approx. 48 consisting 16 actual members  plus a good representation of widows and supporting family members. The dinner itself was another brilliant presentation by the Bowls club and well worth the money.

Raffles were drawn at the conclusion of the eats and these were generously donated by some of our more capable members and spouses.I must add that everyone present received an extra raffle ticket compliments of BD Smith (who couldn’t be with us because of a transport glitch) and this ticket was handed out by Smithy’s grand daughter Alison  (with some help from Mum).

Jenny Hurnall supplied a number of biros with appropriate decorations, Peter Brooks supplied the sachets of scenred soaps for the ladies and 5 watches, Shirley Hoare supplied 2 xmas Table Runners. 1 large patchwork quilt. 2 medium patchwork quilts. Sandy Edwards: bottle of wine and 3 different lavender packs plus box of maltesers ( which Shayne would have liked to win!)Joy Purdie: Several table runners and 2 sets of embroidered bath towels plus other needle work and embroidery Joy also made a banner with Unit member signatures on.A great night was had by all I am sure, with the most emotive point of the night, to me anyway, being the reading out of the names of the deceased,

Sunday morning saw the group gathering once again for our Bi-annual general meeting where an election of our Committee was held. All the retiring committee members from the previous 2 year stint offered their services once again for the next two years and were duly elected by the members. So, once again we welcome:

Des Ralph as the President,

Ken Sceney as the Treasurer,

Jenny Pidgeon as the Secretary.

Bloo Dennis accepted the role of Welfare Officer.

Congratulations to the new Committee.

Many stayed on and around for lunch and eventually dinner, and started the exodus homewards on the Monday morning, although there were a number of stalwarts who stayed on in Coffs Harbour for a bit longer.

Final Reminder…… PLEASE if the following attendee information is incorrect we need to know now!!
The names we have at the moment are:
Wally and Sandra Edwards and Lorna
John and Shirley Hoare
Bob Rowe
Pommy Adcock
Brian and Norma Smith, Tim, Alison, James and Emily
Pidgeons × 3
John Horner
The Hutleys
THE Sceneys
The Ralphs
The Englands
The Dennis’ × 3
The Wilsons
The Hallams
Merv Pickering and Tracey
Rob Hanish and Elaine
The Quinns
Maurie Thompson
Harry Wahlberg
The Mulveys
Lyn Hatton
Blue Hickey
Pat Jerome
Jeanette Henderson

Joy Purdie + 1 possibly 2.

If your name isn’t on there and you wish to attend please let us know.
The format for the weekend is:
Friday 17th …….meet and greet, 5.30pm finger food provided.
Saturday 18th…… dinner, 5.30 for 6pm, 3 course meal plus beer, wine and soft drink.
Overall cost for the weekend will be $50 pp to be paid on Saturday night.
Sunday 19th….meeting 11am..
The venue as normal, Park beach Bowls Club.
Please support the Bowls club because of their ongoing generosity.
NB…. please contact us if you have any dietary needs.
Ken Sceney …0402153596
Jenny Pidgeon…..0419004299
We look forward to seeing you all for another fun weekend.

Those amongst us who remember the early days in SVN may recall Bob McAdoo, another of those who came to 87 from Bien Hoa.

It is with deep regret that we announce that Bob McAdoo  passed away at Sanctuary Point on Saturday 23 June 2018.

RIP Bob.

Another reminder about our next reunion at Coffs  this year on the weekend of 17-18-19th August this year.

Meet and Greet at the Park Beach Bowling Club on Friday 17 August 2018

Dinner at the same venue on Saturday Night 18th August.

Our AGM will be on the Sunday once again at the Bowls Club on the 19th.

Even though our official organiser is O/S at the moment, the club and all concerned still need to know who and how many are intending to attend, so, with this in mind I would ask any intending attendees to contact either;

Ken Sceney, 0402 153 596, kensceney@gmail.com  or

Jenny Pidgeon 0419 004 299, jjp417@bigpond.com .

See you there!

One thought on “What’s happening in Queensland”

1. stuart golland 16/05/18 at 3:59 pm

   An update, I had lumps on my head for about a year. Had a skin specialist check and a sample taken from my skull. A couple of days later he rang and said had I had Leukemia. No was the answer. Further to that saw a blood doctor and was told I needed Radiology on the head. To cut this short, had Radiotherapy and series of needles in the belly. I will require ongoing treatment for ? I am feeling OK at the moment.Regards

   Stuart G.

   I have posted this reply as a separate post rather than leave it as a comment in that I am unaware of how many people actually see the comments. Ed.

   Edit

A Message from BLUE HICKEY

I am very sorry I haven’t been in touch with any one since before last Xmas, that’s even  my own family.  I couldn’t sit down to the key board, and I just looked at the phone and said to myself, tomorrow,
I haven’t had any treatment for the past 18 months only PET& CT SCANS. The funny thing is, I was talking to my Dr some months ago and he worked out the quanity of radiation  I have been given since the start he worked it out the same as chest xrays  with treatment and pet/ct scans that I have had the equivalent of in excess of 200,000 chest xrays.
The problem with this is a certain amount of the radiation residual remains in the body and can cause cancer?
The only thing is I still don’t glow in the dark and that piss me right off
The way things are going, in Febuary 2017 the oncologist advised me then I had a one in three chance of it returning, October 2017 another PET/CT SCAN she told me I  now have a one in ten chance, AND LAST MARCH , The only thing she could say after last one in March 2018 there were no signs of any cancer.
She gave me reassurance like it is 16 months since your last treatment and the last one to die with the return was a female after 20 months of completion of treatment. That was very comforting  to know.
This should put a smile on every ones face , when I went in for my last scan well I use to get very short of breath and I use to have to sit down for a couple of minutes. I got out of the taxi and walked into back of hospital were there were 3 chairs but some nice lady took up 2 of  them so I said Stuffit, and instead of getting the lift I walked down the stairs. There were 3 flights of stairs. When I was on the second set of stairs and 2nd step from the bottom I blacked out and woke up just after hitting the cement. There was a lady standing there saying are you alright.
My reply was yes I am fine , when I got around to xray the young lady at the desk ask if I was all right I said no I just fell coming down the stairs and broke my collar bone . I blamed the diet I was on for the scan as I hated it and I didn’t have much for tea the night before.
Any rate they sent me up to emergency and some time later I was sent a message telling that my scan had been put on hold for tomorrow. That night  I was allowed chicken ,bacon, fried eggs, so I up it for the rent.

All the best

Blue Hickey.

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

BLOO DENNIS

Bloo has just undergone cataract surgery on his 2nd eye and is doing well, as is his good lady Wendy.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

PAT JEROME

Apparently Pat recently had a fall on her front steps and is now recovering from Knee surgery.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Apart from these members that I know of, the rest of us seem to be battling along pretty well. I saw Jeanette Henderson, Jim and Marie Thomson, John and Shirley Hoare, and of course Joy Purdie, recently at Ken’s funeral and all say that they are doing well and look so too.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

It is with much regret that we note the passing of Ken Purdie,  last night (Thursday 3 May 2018) in Greenslopes Hospital

From what I can gather Ken has been having a bit of a rough trot recently and passed away as the result of a  heart attack

His funeral is scheduled for next Friday 11th May at the Hemmant Chapel at 1200.

A timely reminder about our next reunion at Coffs in August of this year.

The itinerary is along the same as previous year being;

Meet and Greet at the Park Beach Bowling Club on Friday 17 August 2018

Dinner at the same venue on Saturday Night 18th August.

Our AGM will be on the Sunday once again at the Bowls Club on the 19th.

Don’t waste too much time before booking accommodation. Weekend of 17-19 August 2018.

See you there!

By the way, there is an RACT Unit up here called Land 121. This Unit is involved in the introduction of the new vehicles that the ADF has recently acquired, and one of the vehicles currently going through the hoops may be of interest to a number of our members.

A bit different to our day! And I would dare say that these new machines are no where near as nimble as the good old Teaspoon.